


the sun was swallowed by the horizon, but the stars are endless.

by Citrus Scented (Umazes)



Category: One Piece
Genre: Eventual Romance, F/M, Fluff without Plot, Gen, I didn't really intend to kind of leave out Franky and Brook but it just ended up like this, No significant plot anyway, Reader-Insert, This is just shameless self-indulgence about my favourite son, also Zoro bathes at LEAST every other day and nothing Oda or anybody else says will change my mind, this is embarrassing i am embarrassing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-29
Updated: 2019-09-29
Packaged: 2020-11-01 08:04:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20811812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Umazes/pseuds/Citrus%20Scented
Summary: yours is the light by which my spirit’s born:yours is the darkness of my soul’s return—you are my sun,my moon,and all my stars-e.e cummingsSnapshots of being in love.





	the sun was swallowed by the horizon, but the stars are endless.

**Author's Note:**

> silently if,out of not knowable  
night’s utmost nothing,wanders a little guess  
(only which is this world)more my life does  
not leap than with the mystery your smile
> 
> sings or if(spiralling as luminous  
they climb oblivion)voices who are dreams,  
less into heaven certainly earth swims  
than each my deeper death becomes your kiss
> 
> losing through you what seemed myself,I find  
selves unimaginably mine;beyond  
sorrow’s own joys and hoping’s very fears
> 
> yours is the light by which my spirit’s born:  
yours is the darkness of my soul’s return  
—you are my sun,my moon,and all my stars
> 
> -e.e cummings

####  **Ten.**

He spots you while out shopping, a lone island staring absently at the sky in the sea of tourists and hawkers streaming around each other like so many ocean currents. The crew, as usual, is lost throughout the city's chaotic sprawl, confidently ignorant of each others' whereabouts and business. Easel Town is comparatively marine-free and its inhabitants welcome sea traffic and the associated news; there’s no need for disguises or caution.

You are introduced to Luffy when he strolls up to you, shows you all of his teeth in the brightest grin you've ever seen, and announces proudly that he is lost. 

"Help me! I can't find my friends!"

You have nothing better to do and agree easily. Luffy provides a vague and unhelpful description of the people he was looking for—something cute and fluffy, a grumpy first mate, his food source, a scary lady, a cyborg, a skeleton, and Robin.

"Robin?"

"Yeah." he makes an even more vague and unhelpful gesture, wiggling his fingers in your face just a touch too close for comfort. You catch the scent of salt and fried fish on his skin. "She's super smart and cool. She'll probably find us first."

That’s one of the first things you learn about Luffy, aside from his million watt smile. He has good things to say about everyone he associates with. Like all of his friends are invincible badasses who can do anything. When he explains to you that he’s going to be the king of the pirates, it makes sense; you figure that only the best will do.

\--

Luffy has the attention span of a toddler on a good day and wants to explore the whole city, but he’s supposed to be following someone. This is a common dilemma for those around him. His crew-mates achieve this objective through various ways, when they don't give up and let him sprint through the streets like a hooligan. Usopp lures him along the correct path through tactical exclamations and pointing out interesting objects or landmarks. Nami screeches and threatens him. Zoro, when frustrated enough, will just pick him up and bodily carry him.  
  
He is growing unfortunately resilient against these methods.

He is also thoroughly defenseless when you slip your hand into his and pull him along gently, your fingers entwined together like lovers. Faced with a new tactic, he follows along easily, and squeezes your hand back.

* * *

**Nine.**

Luffy, you learn very quickly, has Goals. Finding his whole crew proves impossible - after nearly an hour of diligent searching, the only ones you manage to discover are Sanji and Chopper, and that’s only because Luffy has an insatiable appetite.

His secondary goals seem to be very simple: friends, food, adventure. More or less in that order. You can appreciate that.

Sanji's eyes zero in on Luffy's hand in yours, and you let go immediately, self-conscious. The attention is not quite enough to bring a blush to your cheeks but it distinctly feels like you were caught doing something you shouldn’t have. It’s fortuitous timing; Luffy barely seems to notice, launching himself at Sanji with a rubbery snap and moaning about his hunger.

"Wh- Luffy?!"

He pauses his assault to turn to you and laugh, stretching his own cheek comically. "Right, I didn't tell you! I'm a rubber human, you see."

"O-oh." His crew-mates seem utterly unsurprised by his behavior. It is, you suppose, just that simple.

"Sanji! _ Food. _"

"Shut up, you cretin. Lunch won't be ready for some time and I fed you a couple of hours ago."

You watch Luffy deflate into a little puddle on the ground and try not to smile. He’s adorable, all pouts and puppy dog eyes that have no effect on his blond chef. 

"We could explore for a bit to take your mind off of it?" you offer, feeling compelled to cheer him up, and it boosts your ego to see him light up at the suggestion of adventure.

Sanji sighs. "Just find your way back to ship by lunch time, alright? I'm not hunting you down again when you get your dumb ass lost."

"Got it!" Luffy laughs. "See you, Sanji, Chopper!"

You like that, somehow. The way his crew has the freedom to speak their minds and he seems completely unbothered by what they think. You like the fond smile on Sanji's lips even as he complains to Chopper, who cheerfully responds that it’s just Luffy's nature to be an idiot.  
  
The freedom of pirates has a certain allure, you think, the way they flit from port to port like sparrows in the summer forests and do what they please in each and every one. You briefly consider what it might be like to snatch some of that freedom for yourself and shake off the last of your excuses of just “traveling in your youth” or an “exploratory journey”, and for a moment your mind soars above the city’s skyline and away into the unknown.

Luffy springs up and heads off immediately, humming off-key as he walks and totally confident that you will follow.

You do, of course, taking only a breath to bring yourself back into your body. Something about him demands your attention even if you hadn't already been more than willing to give it.

And if he isn't going to ask for directions this time, well. You figure it will be fun to just see what happens, too.

\--

Luffy finds that he likes your eyes on his back. The quiet sound of your footsteps following him and your occasional commentary on the scenery. He finds that he likes it enough to turn around and walk backwards, and he likes your flustered concern as he stares back at you even more. 

* * *

**Eight.**

It’s approaching dusk when you manage to guide Luffy back to the docks; it's well past the time for lunch, which you bought on the street, and Sanji greets the pair of you with a sweet wave in your direction and a kick to Luffy's head that sends his head ricocheting backwards.

"It's fine," Nami says with a hand to her forehead, "Our captain can't be hurt by things like that. He’ll be more scarred if Sanji denies him dinner.”

Said captain, already recovered and with his head firmly in place, turns to beam at you. "Today was fun! Er...what was your name again?"

“_ Luffy. _” Nami covers her whole face. Sanji sighs, muttering something about how unfair life can be as he lights a cigarette. The scent is not altogether unpleasant—there’s a familiarity to it that reminds you of relaxed evenings spent on the wharf, ship builders and sea captains willing to part with their stories for a friendly welcome and a little company.

You introduce yourself to the group at large, and it is quite a group now; there are nine of them in total and every eye is on you. It feels a bit like a self-introduction at school, you think, and your hands twist together restlessly.

It could just be the nine foot tall skeleton grinning at you making you feel that way.  
  
They are nice people, though. It’s easy to tell in their eyes and mouths, despite the swords and slingshot and Franky’s, well, everything. Luffy has assembled a collection of people who exude kindness and ambition to go along with their strength, and as they bicker over introducing themselves, you find that you genuinely believe they could rule the world someday.  
  
“Hey,” Luffy says abruptly, his voice a silencing gunshot in the building chaos. His eyes glitter with the setting sun. “Join my crew.”  
  
His offer sets off a chorus of groans and protest. Before you can feel bad about it, Usopp says, “You can’t just ask everyone to join your crew! It’s _ dangerous. _ We have stuff to do and I bet she has a life too.”  
  
Of course you do. Doesn’t everyone? But you’re caught up in Luffy’s orbit, in the sparkle of his eyes and the white of his teeth against his sun-browned skin. You’re caught at the edge of an old plan and a new adventure, and you find yourself thinking of how your heart pounded as you explored with Luffy that day. Something in your chest has taken flight and you wonder if it will ever be able to settle again.  
  
“Okay,” you say, because in the face of Monkey D. Luffy there’s really only one answer. The rest of Usopp’s protest is lost in a riot of sound and colour as Luffy sweeps you into an exuberant little victory dance and his crew tries to make sense of their captain’s split second decision.

\-- 

Although he wants to have a celebration banquet, the others take pity on you and talk him down to a nice dinner. He watches you smile shyly from across the table as Robin chats with you and heaps servings of every food nearby on your plate while you’re not looking, and he thinks you’ll fit in perfectly.

* * *

**Seven.**

It takes a couple of weeks for Usopp to bring up the apparent change in your captain.  
  
“Isn’t he kind of, you know…” Usopp turns to Nami and makes a little twirling motion around his ear, “More crazy than usual?”  
  
“Hmm?” She doesn’t even look at him, occupied with inspecting her mandarin trees. The sharp, sweet scent of citrus is pleasant in your mouth and feels refreshing against the sticky ocean air. The weather has been unseasonably hot, although that means little in the New World. “Isn’t he just being himself?”  
  
“No, Usopp is right.” Robin says. She sips from her iced tea and your attention is momentarily caught by the drip of condensation across her slender fingertips. She flicks them delicately and holds her hand out to dry before touching the pages of her book once more. “Luffy has been wanting to stop at everything in sight lately. At this rate it will take us some time to follow the Log Pose.”  
  
“Are you in a hurry?” you ask, and Usopp gives you a puzzled look. “I mean, isn’t it nice to explore? I like it. I want to see everything I can.”  
  
“Sure, but…” he trails off, frowning thoughtfully. His eyes shift to Luffy, who sits backwards on the Sunny’s figurehead for once, his eyes pointed in your direction. It’s unclear if he can see you from this distance or even if he’s watching, but you raise your arm and wave at him anyway; a stretchy arm flies into the sky and waves back at you in response, earning a couple of laughs.  
  
It doesn’t take long for your captain to make his way over. He does a respectable imitation of a parakeet, hopping around and trying to take an interest in all of you at once. The effort earns him a hand to the face from Nami as she warns him, voice sugary sweet and hard as steel, to stay away from her trees.  
  
Defeated, he falls obligingly to the floor as she pushes and leans his body against your legs. The straw of his hat scratches lightly at your skin, but you can’t quite find it in yourself to make him move.  
  
“I’m bored,” Luffy whines, and tilts his head back to look at you. His eyes are pitch black and unflinching, even in the sunlight; like he’s a black hole absorbing the energy of the sun being beamed at him.  
  
“What would you like me to do about that, dear captain?” you ask, an irrepressible smile working its way onto your face in response. He’s just so _ cute _ , you can’t help it. Even when he’s being a little annoying, it’s kind of endearing. Your thoughts drift momentarily in this direction and before you know it, your fingers are sliding into his thick, coarse hair. Luffy accepts the touch easily and without reaction, until you scratch your fingers against his scalp.  
  
To everyone’s surprise, he melts against you. His chin digs into your kneecap as his head lolls against your thigh, and within a few seconds he’s fallen asleep that way, slumped against your legs with an arm brushing loosely against the wooden floor.

Usopp stares, openmouthed. Nami pokes her head out of the trees to investigate the sudden silence. Her eyes land upon Luffy and narrow momentarily before she disappears again without a word.  
  
Robin simply smiles. “Let’s enjoy the peace and quiet while we can, shall we?” she says, and returns to her book.

\--

He doesn’t wake up for some time. As the sun starts to dim on its descent towards the horizon, Luffy finally lifts his head. Your fingers had stilled their movement through his hair some time ago and he looks up to find your cheek resting in the palm of one hand, tilting dangerously as you doze. The heat of the day still lingers on his skin, warming you despite the increasing chill of the evening air.  
  
The others have already retreated to other areas of the ship, and in the brief silence he takes a moment to just look at you before standing up and lifting you into his arms.  
  
You startle awake, a shriek caught in your throat before you remember where you are and your arm makes contact with Luffy’s vest. “I-I can walk! I’m awake!”  
  
“Okay.” He puts you down without argument and grins. For some reason, you find it a little disappointing. “That was a good nap. I’m gonna go see what Zoro is doing.”  
  
He’s off and running without giving you time to say another word. You watch him go, until the spectacularly pink and orange hues of the sky distract you from noticing the satisfied tilt of his lips.

* * *

**Six.**

The heat of summer is unrelenting now as you all suffer under the sun’s merciless glare; Sanji is frantic in the face of the rising temperatures, providing an endless supply of iced beverages and adjusting umbrellas to provide shade for the women lounging nearby.  
  
“Just take advantage of him,” Nami sighs as the chef refills her drink. “He wants to do it anyway.”  
  
Robin makes an amused sound halfway between agreement and admonishment, but allows him to fuss over her without protest.  
  
“That’s right, take advantage of me,” Sanji coos in response. He flutters his eyelashes at you and you laugh.  
  
“Stop it, I feel guilty,” you reply. It’s true; your blond crewmate is getting burnt to a crisp, and you feel a small stab of guilt every time you see his bright red nose and peeling arms fruitlessly slathered in sunscreen. “Thank you as always, Sanji.”  
  
“Anytime, darling.”  
  
The other members of the crew aren’t as lucky as the three of you. Luffy’s incessant whining for something cool is met with a boot to the chest and a warning to stay out of the kitchen. You can’t help but feel sorry for him getting banned from so many areas of the ship.  
  
“I mean,” you mumble, “He definitely _shouldn’t_ be in the kitchen, though…”  
  
“You stop feeling bad after a while,” Nami says matter-of-factly. There isn’t a trace of guilt in her voice. “Luffy has earned every ban he’s ever gotten.”  
  
“Hoooot,” he wails, and drapes himself over the back of your chair like an oversized beach towel left out to dry. His skin is practically steaming, and you scoot over slightly in your chair to allow his head to droop comfortably beside yours. A bead of sweat drips off the tip of his nose and soaks into the collar of your damp shirt. There are much worse things to be tolerated among crewmates on the sea.  
  
“There, there,” you say, and offer him your drink; he slurps listlessly at the straw and then hangs there in quiet exhaustion, recharging in the shade of your umbrella. Across the lawn you spot Chopper half-unconscious from the heat with a sun-browned Usopp fanning him half-heartedly.  
  
“We should just shackle Luffy to you,” Nami says, “since it’s the only way to keep him quiet for more than thirty seconds at a time.”  
  
“How mean,” Robin says, her eyes twinkling, “even if it’s true.”  
  
“It’s just the weather,” you reply, and ignore the prickling heat under your skin that has nothing to do with the sun. “I’m sure he’ll be back to running around as soon as the sun goes down.”  
  
Nami hums, obviously unconvinced, but doesn’t comment any further. She doesn’t have to; the weight of her stare is enough to make your cheeks burn as Luffy’s neck stretches and drops his forehead onto your shoulder. He nuzzles against you, tickling your ear, and sighs contentedly. His hair smells like the Sunny’s lawn and sunshine.  
  
“It’s finally cool…”

\--

It _was_ cool, and a good idea, he thinks. It takes a beating from Sanji before Luffy apologizes, his face swollen and bruised, for something he doesn’t regret in the slightest. You accept with a mortified air that suggests you would rather be doing anything else, and promptly flee the scene.  
  
“Dude, at least take a bath first,” says Zoro, inspecting the damage. “Girls don’t like that shit.”  
  
“How would you know,” Luffy says petulantly, but he caves under his first mate’s flat stare. He supposes a few extra baths are a small sacrifice in the grand scheme of things.

* * *

**Five.**

Your breath comes ragged, pained wheezes forced out between clenched teeth as you fail to relax your jaw. Your arm is hot and burning and your fingers are icy cold.  
  
In the smoke and mist of this dead street, you stand locked in a Marine’s hold. The city is dead silent as if pretending not to hear your plight, closing their eyes in the darkness and refusing to see.  
  
You don’t have a bounty, but it doesn’t matter. You’ve long known the Navy is not the pillar of justice it claims to be.  
  
The Marine sniffs at your hair and the stench of foul body odor only barely masked by laundry detergent stings at your eyes. You will yourself not cry. There are other blue and white-suited bastards watching, and you refuse to endure that humiliation in front of them.  
  
“Pretty thing, aren’t you?” he murmurs in your ear. “Become my girl and maybe we can end this nice and easy.”  
  
Disgust works its way through your veins like a slow poison, and as much as you’d like to live, you can’t help but think it isn’t worth that. Isn’t worth giving up your dignity and hard-won freedom, the brilliance of Luffy’s respect, the family you had grown to be a part of.  
  
“Get fucked,” you say, and he snarls at you.  
  
“You heard her.”  
  
In the shadows between streetlights Luffy appears like a demon, his face so much darkness in the shade of his straw hat. He suffers only from a few bruises across his knuckles, and for that you are relieved.  
  
“Wooooow,” says the Marine, “You even drew out Straw Hat Luffy! Damn, I’m gonna be rich.” His breath is hot and unpleasant against your skin, and his arm squeezes your neck with painful force as you squirm against him.  
  
Luffy stands quiet and still before you. His head tilts up a fraction of an inch and your blood cools in your veins.

His eyes are a pit of coals, dark and pitiless, brimming with the same fire his siblings were so well known for. His mouth is a crude, flat line drawn into the stone of his face. Luffy’s gaze flickers to you and lingers there as he speaks, his voice terrible in its even quietude.

"Give her back."  
  
“Like hell I will,” the Marine retorts. You have to admit that at least he has guts.  
  
Luffy tilts his head to the left, and you get the message. The rest happens in a split second.  
  
You kick the Marine’s shin and wrench yourself to the left, a critical dodge out of Luffy’s path that gives him room to sink his fist into the Marine’s face. The crack of bone is audible as his opponent howls and spits out a tooth; a second ear-splitting crack and he’s out cold.  
  
Luffy’s knuckles drip scarlet blood as he reels in his fist and turns his attention to the other Marines. None of them choose to take their chances, and in another couple of seconds you are alone with him.  
  
“I’m —”  
  
“—You’re okay, right?” he asks. His gaze when it turns to you is still a bit wild, a bit too animal for comfort, and for a moment you’re not sure what he’s going to do next. “That bastard didn’t hurt you, right?”  
  
“No,” you say slowly, choosing to ignore the throbbing of your arm and neck. “I’m okay. Thank you, Luffy.”  
  
As if approaching an untamed beast, you take slow steps towards him. He’s relaxing now as the adrenaline leaves his body, and when you throw your arms around him and let a few tears escape into his shirt, you feel his clean hand settle at your waist.  
  
“Thank you,” you say again, if only to avoid a different set of words slipping out of your mouth before you’re ready to say them.

\--

He’s not pleased when he finds you later in the infirmary with Chopper, but your sheepish smile eases a knot in his chest that hasn’t come undone since he saw you trapped against that Marine. He wonders how fragile you are, how close you had come to death, and a spike of fear shoots through him like a sudden fall into the ocean.  
  
“It would have been worse if Luffy hadn’t showed up like that,” you say to Chopper, which only sets him off on another tirade of scolding. You seem to notice him then, your body tensing briefly in surprise before relaxing again.  
  
“Don’t worry,” he says for both of your sakes, “I’ll always come to save you. Because we’re nakama.”  
  
The look you give him in response makes his heart start pounding as if he’s fighting for his life. The feeling puts him on edge but it’s also kind of addictive, and he finds that he feels it more and more often around you.

* * *

**Four.**

It was a stupid idea, in hindsight.  
  
Most of Luffy’s ideas are, but out of all the Straw Hat pirates you are definitely the one who goes along with him the most. You push an overgrown fern out of your face and huff loudly, displacing a small cloud of insects that persistently buzz around you.  
  
“Luffy! Do you even know where we’re going?”  
  
“Nope.” He laughs, dangling upside down from a tree, fingers already reaching for some strange fruit you just _ know _ is going to make him sick.  
  
“Will you stop just eating random things we find on uninhabited islands!”  
  
“They’re yummy, though.” As if to prove his point, he pops a —bright blue grape?—into his mouth and chews deliberately.  
  
You give up. Even with all of your supposed influence over Luffy, it’s impossible to stop him from putting anything remotely edible into his mouth.  
  
This excursion can’t be for nothing, you think to yourself. At the very least you need to bring back some samples of the flora for your more experimental-minded crewmates, and find something extra tasty or shiny to satisfy Luffy.  
  
Sometimes it’s a bit like having a giant, affectionate crow for a captain.

There’s a glint off to the southwest that looks promising, and you adjust your bag and head towards it after conveying your intentions to Luffy. He heads in another direction and that’s fine; you can hear the noisy crash of his feet through the underbrush. It’s difficult to really lose track of him.

The glint, unfortunately, turns out to be some kind of metallic golden beetle, and it is _ very _ angry.  
  
You whack at it a few times before it falls dead, but by then it’s too late; the small scratches it has inflicted on you are ice cold and sting more than anything you’ve ever experienced. You allow yourself a brief moment to whimper in pain before collecting your prize—perhaps Usopp will find something to make of it, or maybe Chopper. Yeah, that sounds good. You could use a visit with Chopper.  
  
The brief distance to where Luffy is suddenly turns vast and arduous as your limbs weaken under the effects of what is, now that you think about it, definitely poison. You are definitely poisoned. Oops.  
  
“So did you find any food? Or—” Luffy turns and spots you wobbling on your feet; the words die in his throat as he sprints to catch you almost reflexively. “Oi. Are you okay? Hey, what happened? Stay with me!”  
  
“Sorry,” you gasp, “I got a little poisoned.” The pain burns icy trails up your arms as you grit your teeth and stiffen.  
  
“I’ll get you to Chopper right away!” He hefts you over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, his bony shoulder digging painfully into your abdomen. The sensation is almost pleasant in how it distracts from the lack of feeling in your arms.  
  
“Sorry...captain…” you wheeze, and feel his arm tighten around you in response. “Won’t happen again.”  
  
And then everything is black.

\--

He’s frantic by the time he gets back to the ship, sending everyone into a flurry as he yells for Chopper. The small reindeer dashes out, takes one look at your body, and orders Luffy to carry you straight into the infirmary.

_ Not like this, _ he thinks as he deposits you on the small bed. You’re sweating profusely and your breathing is far too shallow for comfort. Chopper has to enlist Zoro and Usopp to bodily remove him from the space so that he can work. _ Not this soon, not like this, not without—not before—not _ until—  
  
The door shuts in his face and an agonizing wait begins.

* * *

**Three.**

It takes four days for you to wake up.

Luffy drives the crew out of their minds during this time, or so you later hear. For the first two days he is incessant in demanding to know about your condition, when you’ll wake up, if there’s anything he can do. On day three he is finally allowed into the infirmary, where he sits in forlorn silence and waits.  
  
On day four, in the evening, you come back into awareness. The state of your body is no longer a major concern, with a lingering ache in every limb but no acute pain. The ache is a bit of a comfort anyway, serving to remind you that you still possess all of your extremities.

You open your eyes and peer into the gloom until you can make out a lump pressed against your bed. 

Luffy sleeps fitfully at your side, his back bent awkwardly and arms folded into a bony pillow. One hand is holding tightly to your own and his forehead presses against your forearm as he mumbles your name. 

Your pulse flutters against your throat as you listen to him in the silent little space. It's embarrassing, but your thoughts drift towards what he might say when he wakes. Will he be worried? Angry? Happy? You're sometimes surprised that your captain's body can even contain the intensity of his many feelings, and wonder if they leave room for you.

The soft sound of the door opening disrupts your thoughts, and you watch drowsily as Chopper pads into the room. He gasps when he sees your open eyes and rushes to check your vitals, peppering you with questions until your head is spinning.

Luffy, as he is wont to do, remains asleep during the entire process.

He doesn't let go of your hand, though. You squeeze lightly, experimentally, and he holds tighter in response. The action brings a smile to your lips.

"Luffy was really worried about you, you know," Chopper says. You had almost forgotten he was there, but he doesn't comment when you flinch and turn towards him. "It was a real pain to try and treat you with him constantly hovering outside."

"Thank you, Chopper," you reply, "I knew you could do it since you're the best doctor there is."

As expected, the compliment brings a flush to his cheeks and he bashfully denies your words, pleased. "You'll be okay to leave tomorrow but you have to take it easy, you jerk! You had us all scared!"

He leaves after you promise dutifully to rest, and you doze for some time before Luffy wakes you with his stirring. The rubber man nuzzles against your arm like a sleepy toddler as he wakes, but when he lifts his eyes and sees you looking back at him, all the lethargy seems to disappear.

In the next instant, he has you wrapped tightly in his arms; his vest smells fresh and clean as he leaps onto the bed and presses your face into his shoulder. For all that you’ve fallen victim to his gravitational pull, Luffy holds you against him as if you are the core keeping him stable in the vast uncertainty of space.

"You're okay," he says, and your heart throbs at the sheer relief in his voice. "I thought- I knew you would be okay, because Chopper said so, but you just wouldn't _wake_ _up_ and everyone told me not to wake you up-"

His voice cracks a little and he stops babbling, opting to squeeze you even more tightly against him. And maybe it's half out of selfishness, but you figure nobody (save your struggling heart and lungs) would object as you hug him back equally tightly; two opposite forces in equilibrium, safe in each others’ company.

"I'm okay," you reply. Your voice is nothing to be proud of after so many days of disuse, but it's important to get the words out despite the scratchy sandpaper feeling in your throat. "I'm fine thanks to you, Luffy."

"You can't die," he says into your hair. "Not ever. Don't let something stupid happen to you again."

"Okay. You can't die either."

"I'll be fine. I'm strong. I have to become the Pirate King, after all."

"I have to see you become the Pirate King," you retort, and your stubborn words finally force a laugh out of him that relaxes his entire body against you.

"Luffy," you say, and he pulls back to look at you. You can see yourself, disheveled, reflected in the ink of his eyes. Your appearance somehow doesn't look that bad when you see it through him. "Thank you."

A slow smile works its way onto his face at your words.

"Yeah."

\--

It feels something like seeing a clear sky after a rainstorm when Luffy sees you grin at him from across the deck the following day. The reassurance that you're simply there strikes him again, distracting him from his usual investigations of what his shipmates are doing (much to their relief, after the past few days).

"So everything's back to normal," Usopp declares, although it's half a question as he watches Luffy attempt to go about his day and stop periodically to just look at you.

"Like anything is ever normal around here," Zoro says. He rests his head against the ship's railing and looks up at the sky. Usopp tries to ignore how uncomfortable it looks. "Luffy's got it bad. Get used to it 'cause he's definitely gonna get even more annoying."

  
Usopp only sighs in response.

* * *

**Two.**

Zoro, as he often is about everything besides directions, turns out to be right.

You have to hand it to Luffy; he certainly does _ try _ to seem normal. Unfortunately, the rubber man is a bad actor at best.

He follows you around the ship like a particularly loud and obtrusive shadow, not-so-subtly watching you every couple of minutes in between his usual thousand questions per day directed at everyone in your vicinity.

The crew is ever tolerant of their captain's insatiable curiosity but less so of his newly developed tendency to suddenly tune out of whatever they're saying to him. Even Franky, normally easygoing, gives him a disappointed frown as Luffy’s eyes wander from the cyborg’s cool new hairstyle to you fishing with Usopp. Nami, exercising an unusual amount of mercy, waits until the third time he stops paying attention to beat him within an inch of consciousness.

"Can you just focus for once," she snaps. "She's not going to disappear while you're not looking."

You feel kind of apologetic, but the others' ire is never directed at you. After 3 days of him being unusually irritating, you're forced to confront him.

"Not that I don't like it," you say. _ Not that I don't like you. _"I mean, it's fine, but why are you following me around all day?"

Luffy makes a valiant attempt at playing dumb, but his shifting eyes soon catch your unimpressed expression and he gives up almost immediately. Deception is not really in his nature and you both know it.

"Can't I?" he sulks. "I just wanna be in the same places you are."

You can't even begin to hide the affection that blooms in your chest at his words. Despite what a nuisance he's being, his concern is terribly endearing.

"Luffy, I'm really fine. Really! Haven't you seen that by now?"

He fidgets like a scolded child in front of you, tugging at your heartstrings. "Yeah… I just kind of, I don't know.” Like a passing cloud unveiling the sun, he suddenly beams at you. “I feel better when I can see you.”  
  
Your face gets traitorously hot upon hearing his words. “W-well, that’s fine! Nami is gonna kick your ass again if you don’t start listening to her, though, so how about I just promise to stay close by?”  
  
“You’re funny,” he laughs, “I’ll find you whether you’re nearby or not, because I want to! Sometimes I just want to see you.”

And oh, you’re in love. You’re so in love it’s a wonder the others have limited themselves to sly nudges and smiles instead of shouting about it into your ear. You’re so in love that you can almost feel your heart drowning in the ocean of affection that has sprung forth in your chest. The realization would be paralyzing, except that you kind of feel that way every day anyway. It’s just how things are when it comes to Luffy.  
  
“Good,” you say, and wow, did you always sound this soft for him? Probably. It's kind of embarrassing, but it's also okay because this is Luffy you're talking about. “Good, because I want you to keep finding me.”

\--

You wake that night with his soft hair tickling your neck as he presses closer, mumbling softly against your skin. Although you have no idea when he got here, Luffy sneaking into your bed is not an altogether uncommon experience (no matter how many mornings find Sanji kicking his ass before breakfast as Luffy bursts out of the women’s quarters). Your bed is distinctly more comfortable than those in the men’s quarters, and he’s always been clingy.

His limbs wind around you tightly, pressing you into the hard planes of his chest. You can feel his heart pounding in the cage of his ribs, the pulse of his life soothing under your ear. He tangles his limbs with your until you're no longer sure it's possible to get free, and then he's asleep.

He sleeps better this way. You do too.

* * *

**One.**

Eventually your curiosity gets the better of you, and you ask Luffy why he wanted you to join his crew.

"You have something we were missing," Luffy answers easily. His feet swing, dangling from the edge of the ship. A sweet ocean breeze ruffles his shiny black hair, and you're almost sick with your love for him.

"Like what?" you murmur, drawn closer almost against your will. You lean against the railing and gaze out at the waves with your captain, your heart aching in a way that makes you want to start running and never stop. The thrill of the unknown calls to you, makes your blood sing. Maybe it's Luffy's influence, or your own wanderlust, or the freedom you've been given and not yet explored. Maybe it's the contrary and bittersweet ache of having the world at your fingertips and choosing to stay right where you are, because there's someone worth staying for. Someone worth more than the rest of the world without him beside you.

Maybe you're just a fool in love, in love with foolishness, foolish in your love. 

Maybe you don't care. Luffy teaches you to want what you want, and make it happen. Isn't that what being a pirate is all about?

"Just something," he says, and the answer should be unsatisfying but it's not—not with the way he looks at you as he says it. "You're you, and we need that."

_ I need that. _

His gaze turns from you back out to the open ocean, catching on the sea birds and fish weaving in and out of the water. “Tell me about your dream,” he asks, and you can’t help but oblige. Every member of the Straw Hat Pirates has a dream, and you are no exception; you suspect that you would’ve left long ago if you didn’t have one.

“I want to see everything,” you say, recalling when you first met him. The freedom he offered you, and how easily you accepted it. It’s a kind of magic Luffy seems to work on everyone—not making decisions for them, but giving them a chance to take their fate into their own hands. It was a choice you will never regret making.  
  
“With you,” you add belatedly, and when his head turns, you decide that you won’t take it back. “I want to see all of it with this crew, even things nobody knows exists. It wouldn’t be as fun seeing it all alone.”  
  
He laughs softly, a smooth stone skipped over a river; and if your heart tumbles like the gentle waves in response, you really can't be blamed. “I see. Yeah, that’s good. That’s a good dream.”

\--

He wants to see everything with you, too.

* * *

**Zero.**

You’ve been with the crew for some time now, and things are good. It's just an ordinary day like any other. The sun is shining, you can hear Franky and Chopper hollering outside, and the faint sound of Brook’s violin drifts in through an open window with the breeze.  
  
You're organizing the mess of books in your shared bookshelf while Luffy sits on the table behind you, kicking his feet and watching you sort the volumes. He watches the dust motes dance in the beam of sunlight illuminating your face. He watches your nose scrunch and your brows furrow as you mumble about sorting by title or subject. He watches you, and when he’s had his fill, he decides that now is a good time.

"Hey," he says, a smile in his voice. You turn around and look.

It's the same Luffy as always, standing in front of you. The same smile and the same straw hat and the same bright eyes as always.

"I love you."

And then, it isn't.

Right? Something changes here. This is where your relationship takes a turn, where you can't hear over the thundering of your heart, where your palms get embarrassingly sweaty and your breath stutters in your chest and-

It's the same Luffy, and the same you, and you've both loved each other for a long time now.

"Thanks," you say. It feels kind of stupid, so you add, "I love you too." The words come out easier than you expected, having nestled inside of you for so long.

His smile grows minutely. He's known, of course, it's impossible not to have known and it's not like you were particularly hiding it. But he's pleased to hear you say it nonetheless.

"Can I kiss you?" he asks, and maybe now your heart _ does _ tremble, forced to confront the reality you hadn't quite thought would come to be.  
  
“Yeah.” You nod, and he comes even closer. He smells like soap, and the sea, and Luffy. His fingers are rough against your jaw, where he rests them with an uncharacteristic tenderness, and then he’s kissing you.

His lips are not exactly soft, being made of rubber, but they are gentle and warm against yours. You press into him wanting more, mapping the feel of his smile against your own mouth, and you can't help but smile in return, and then your teeth are clashing as you laugh into each other's skin from the sheer joy of loving and being loved in kind.  
  
A loud whoop from outside alerts you to the fact that Usopp is up in the crow’s nest and very much _ not _ watching the ocean. Luffy separates from you and winks before launching himself directly out the window. You abandon the bookshelf in favor of watching the ensuing mess with a full heart.  
  
Usopp shrieks as he is launched into the ocean; Zoro laughs loudly as he watches the sniper plunge into the water and surface with a curse. Luffy strikes a victory pose and then looks up at you, smiling with the brilliance of the sun and all the stars.  
  
Things are different but also the same, and it’s all good.

**Author's Note:**

> I watched 400 episodes of One Piece in a month and a half

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [the sun was swallowed by the horizon, but the stars are endless [Podfic]](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27069886) by [brokeassweeb](https://archiveofourown.org/users/brokeassweeb/pseuds/brokeassweeb)


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